


Oath

by horologiiums



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Reincarnation, Soulmates, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 02:43:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20884838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horologiiums/pseuds/horologiiums
Summary: In all of her recollections from all of her previous lives, he remained her only constant.





	Oath

She referred to herself as an “oracle” because she was unsure of how else to describe her powers.

She didn’t know when it began but at some point, she had acquired the ability to recall memories of her past lives. It came as a shock at first; strange images of herself filled her mind, but they had not been from the life she currently lived. Initially, she simply brushed them off, convincing herself that they were dreams but the quality of their authenticity made her resolve waver. It was only until the memories continued to pile higher and higher, and the fact that she could recall herself having the conversation of it merely being a dream countless times before that she had accepted it as her reality.

Each time she was reincarnated and each time she, as she had dubbed it, “awoke”, she would be able to remember what she assumed were all of her past lives. However, there was a limit to her mind’s reach - she couldn’t remember the entirety of her past lives, but rather the most powerful memories of each one.

None of her lives were completely alike, and while her social standing in each iteration varied, there did remain but one constant: a man.

No matter the memory, no matter her social status, the same man would always be featured in her recollections. Like herself, he too was never exactly the same person as he was in a previous life but his soul was, without a doubt, one in the same.

Because of his everlasting presence, and additionally his existence in all of her memories in which she awoke, she had come to refer to him as her soulmate. She knew that he had become the trigger in reawakening her sealed memories, and also the one who forged the path needed for them to reunite.

In one of her earlier lives, when she hadn’t fully realized her gift, she discovered that she was a dancer. He was as well and they made their living performing on the busy night streets for rich, drunken nobles.

While it appeared to have been a risky life at times, she could feel true happiness emanating from them both as they danced and lived freely, never allowing their striking smiles to falter as they twirled and spun around one another in unison.

He had passed before her then, but as he lay on his deathbed, clutching her hand, he promised that they would meet again.

When she next woke, she found, in that life, she hadn’t been so fortunate. She had been homeless for quite some time, living in the back streets of some dingy town. She could recall her nihilism, having completely given up on living at the point in time from which that particular memory began. She had found life so meaningless that when a group of gruff, crass men pulled at her hair and forcibly dragged her to her feet to get a better look at her face, she didn’t bother to resist.

They called her ugly, vile words while chatting amongst themselves about how she could fetch them a pretty penny. She resigned herself to that fate without so much as batting an eyelash.

However, for the first time in a long time, she felt genuine shock when she witnessed a person jump down from one of the building rooftops surrounding them. They landed silently behind the man who tugged at her hair and, just as quietly, slit his throat with the dagger that had previously been concealed up their sleeve. The other men weren’t granted the time to register what had happened, for the hooded figure made quick work of them as well.

With their bodies on the ground, blood leaking from their motionless corpses, she looked up at her savior. She had felt baffled that someone would murder a group of thugs to rescue someone as trivial as her, but if there was one thing that she hadn’t lost over the course of her pathetic existence, it was the ability to express gratitude when someone did her a favor.

At her words, the person looked around, perhaps to make sure that no one but her would see them, before they pushed their hood back. A jolt shot through her upon seeing their - or rather, _ his _ \- face but she couldn’t determine what could have caused it.

He smiled at her easily and commented on how a fair maiden such as herself didn’t deserve such treatment from baseless pigs. He extended his hand to her, introducing himself as “your everyday rogue.”

She was hesitant, staring at his hand for longer than was probably appropriate, but eventually she reached out, settled her palm against his… and awoke.

They had lived many lives together: as dancers, a homeless maiden and her savior rogue, a king and queen, childhood friends, a merchant and her most frequent customer, fellow soldiers… No matter the odds, they would meet again, and each time they reunited, she would awaken and her memories of their times together would come flooding back to her.

In each of her reincarnations, there would come a time when she would confess to him about her power to recall memories from her past lives. In some instances, he would believe her at once. In other cases, he would be a bit more hesitant, sometimes needing days, weeks, even months before he accepted her truth.

Despite those times, he would never invalidate or belittle her reality; he admitted that it was a personal flaw and not one that she needed to guilt herself with. In all of his rebirths, he had never been a man of blind faith nor one who relied on the will of the gods. Because of that fact, she had learned early on to accept his hostility toward the matter, because she knew that he would always, without fail, come around.

And in time, when that moment of acceptance arrived, he would caress her cheek. And each time, in each life, he would say the same careful, devoted words:

“No matter our lives, no matter who we become, I will always walk in step with you. And I will love you, with everything I am.”

Through all of their lives, all of their meetings and partings, he never failed to deliver her that solemn vow. It served as further proof that no matter who he said he was, in whatever life she found herself in, his soul remained unchanged.

His words had become an oath, a guide to help lead them back to one another time after time, forever.

* * *

When she next awoke, it was because she had seen the color of his eyes, however they were in the last place she had wished for them to be, in positions she had deeply regretted.

He jumped off of his mount, a white wyvern, and readied his blade, assuming a battle stance as he glared daggers into her skull. She knew more than anyone how capable of a fighter he was. Him being a general in that life hadn’t served as the first time he led an army of considerable strength onto the battlefield. But during those times, they had been on the same side of the war.

He called for her to draw her weapon but she made no move to do so. She was frozen, memories of their previous incarnations locking her in place. The man she had loved in tens, hundreds of lives prior finally stood before her as an enemy. She had been prepared to win the war, prepared to take down the enemy general and further hone her infamous battlefield title but upon awakening, she knew victory was impossible. She couldn’t kill him - would _ not _ kill him.

It was selfish, perhaps the most selfish she had ever been in any of her rebirths, but there was only one way out. To ensure his happiness and to ensure that his dreams in their current forms were realized, she drew her blade.

At once, he charged at her, furiously swinging his own sword at her with precise, practiced movements. He fought in earnest, the intent to kill glossing over his eyes that she had grown to love so deeply.

She just as gracefully dodged and parried each one of his predictable blows; they moved with each other in near complete synchronization, just as they had danced together an innumerable amount of times before.

The corners of her mouth automatically pulled back into a smile at the memory.

He must have found her crazed, like a demon, probably under the impression that she was getting a thrill off of them trying to kill each other. He gritted his teeth at seeing her joyful expression and he created distance between them. He wasted no time jumping above her after that, no doubt wanting to take her out in a single, fatal strike.

She ducked and rolled out of his reach, the way he silently landed and immediately rushed her again reminiscent of his life as a rogue, how he had noiselessly killed the men who had threatened to harm her.

She kicked her leg out, hoping to emulate the desire to trip him. As anticipated, he read her movements and leapt away from her once more. When he readied himself again, he adopted a particular pose, angling the tip of his blade at her. She knew what he was planning to do, so she mimicked his stance.

For the final time, he charged at her, as did she, only loosening the grip she had maintained on her sword’s hilt at the last possible second, tossing the weapon aside.

She felt his blade move through her at the same time she saw his expression twist into disbelief. She willed herself to move through the pain of being impaled, bringing herself as close as she could to him so she could wrap her arms around his broad figure, hands clinging to the clothing on his back to support herself.

She heard his gasp more than she felt it when she settled her head against his chest. She was rapidly losing all feeling in her body, could only discern the blood rising in her throat like bile. It was the furthest thing from being ideal, but if anything, she had managed to find a way into his embrace despite their ill-fated reunion in that damned world.

She sensed him stiffen as though wanting to pull away from her, perhaps surmising that her sacrifice was some sort of elaborate scheme. Maybe it was in some way, but it was a scheme devised only to fulfill her selfish wish of being reborn again in a better life, and to give him a world in which he could live peacefully, no longer having to fight in a pointless war.

With the last remnants of her strength, she knew that she had to speak, had to repeat the words he would always declare to her that would create the bridge needed for them to pass onto their next life together. She figured he would find her insane, muttering nonsensical, meaningless phrases to him as if they were meant to be anything more than bitter rivals. But she didn’t mind; he would come around, he always did.

“No matter our lives… and no matter— who we become... I will always— always walk in step with you…” She managed to angle her head back far enough to see his face, to look into his eyes. The bloodlust in them had faded, replaced by what she perceived as a mixture of skepticism, confusion, and grief.

She tried to smile but knew her attempt was a miserable failure. Weakly, she drew her right hand from his back to his front, and reached for his face. He flinched but didn’t pull away when her palm settled on the side of his neck, her thumb lightly tracing over his trimmed beard. “And I will love you, with everything I am.”

Had her next breath not been her last in that life, she would have felt the shudder ripple throughout his body as she uttered his name at last: “Claude.”

* * *

When she next awoke, she would assume the life of a mercenary, working for her father’s company. They were to set out of the village they were stationed at for their next mission but, upon leaving, they encountered three youths in need of their assistance.

Byleth would forever recall her meeting with the trio; a prince, a princess, and the third, a young man with an easy, striking smile that failed to reach his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> “you know what would be cool? doing the whole “Byleth remembers other routes” thing but not really. I’ll put a reincarnation twist on things. hell yeah” —me yesterday, as I suffered from a migraine
> 
> real talk, I’m really happy with this & I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed coming up with & writing it! if you must know, I assigned this fic a theme song (“Never Say Never” by The Fray) & it’s making me even more emo about it hahah! anyway, thank you if you made it this far & I hope you liked this!


End file.
